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Wolff believes unfortunate Ferrari could have three race wins so far this season

Wolff believes "unfortunate" Ferrari could have three race wins so far this season

08-07-2019 08:07
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Bobby Vincent

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff believes rivals Ferrari have been "unfortunate" so far this season, and they could easily have three race wins already in 2019.

In Austria last time out, Charles Leclerc started on pole and spent most of the race in first position, before a determined Max Verstappen overtook the Ferrari driver with a few laps remaining.

A similar situation occured in Bahrain - only for an engine failure to hault Leclerc's chances of a maiden Formula 1 victory. Sebastian Vettel crossed the line in first-place in Canada, but was penalised with a five-second penalty for rejoining the track dangerously.

Wolff was asked by RaceFans whether he was shocked at Red Bull winning a race before Ferrari this season, and replied with: "I think Ferrari was really unfortunate this season.

"They could have won three times already. The Red Bull was the quickest car on-track (in Austria). You never saw our performance because we were racing with a hand tied behind our back but between Ferrari and Red Bull-Honda, today the Honda was the benchmark.

"I don't think (Ferrari's tyre strategy was a mistake) because at the end they had only a few laps left on the hard tyre. I think that the tyre degradation was still a topic for them and we have to not over-analyse it. I think the combination between Max, the Red Bull chassis and the Honda engine was the best package."